The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Established to develop the cultural and social ties between the Muslim and Jewish communities of Greater Manchester
19-22 August 2026
Making friends with people of other faiths and backgrounds enriches your life. It also makes Britain better. That is why for 21 years the Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester has brought Muslims and Jews closer together.
Since 2009, every year apart from the pandemic, some of the Forum have gone on holiday together, at their own expense, to a place of Muslim and Jewish interest. Past locations have included Paris, Milan, Dubrovnik, Bratislava, and Marrakesh. This year they visited Riga in Latvia from 19-22 August.
Riga celebrated its 825th anniversary this year, since it was founded in 1201. Historically it was a trading city, and one of the members of the Hanseatic League alongside cities like Cologne, Breslau, Berlin and Danzig (now called Gdansk.) For much of its history, Latvia was subjugated by foreign powers, but it has been free and independent since the collapse of the USSR.
Amidst the sightseeing, which included a pleasant boat trip along the Daugava River and sampling Latvian cuisine, the highlights of the visit were the Museum of Jews in Latvia and the Latvia Islamic Cultural Centre (“LICC”).
Latvia once had a thriving Jewish community which was destroyed during the Holocaust. When he saw the Museum’s visitor’s book, Muslim Co-Chair Mohammed Amin MBE spontaneously wrote the following:
“The 20’th century saw the greatest scientific achievements in human history. It also saw the greatest evil that humanity has ever perpetrated, when “civilised” Germany and its collaborators industrialised murder seeking to kill all Jewish people everywhere. Each of us needs to learn, understand, and remember where hatred leads.”
The Latvian Muslim community has grown since independence in 1991, and is now some 10,000-15,000 people who have come for work or study. The LICC was established in 2011. The visitors were shown around by a mechanical engineering student from Egypt.
Jewish Co-Chair Cllr Heather Fletcher said:
“Riga is a beautiful city on the Baltic Sea with approximately 600,000 residents. I found the architecture very impressive. As a Jewish person I was pleased our group visited the Jewish Museum / Community Centre and I was interested to learn from the guide that approximately 6,000 Jews now live in Riga and there are currently two synagogues and two Jewish schools. Latvia has the largest Jewish population of all the Baltic states. However, it has diminished considerably since the Holocaust. Before WW2 45,000 Jewish people lived in Riga and they had their own Jewish Theatre. I was also happy to eat Latvian/Jewish delicacies namely borscht (beetroot) soup and potato latkes (pancakes.)”
The Jewish Museum photo shows, from left to right:
Follow @MJF_Manchester
The Muslim Jewish Forum of Greater Manchester
Established to develop the cultural and social ties between the Muslim and Jewish Communities of Greater Manchester